How often is software built in secrecy for years prior to release?

Question

With the Figma acquisition, I rediscovered this post from the founder of Figma.https://www.figma.com/blog/design-meet-the-internet/They started building in 2011/2012 and then had their first limited preview release in Dec 2015.How many other companies today are building for years before their first preview launch?Especially as prevailing wisdom has turned to launch quickly and iterate instead of crafting, iterating, and refining a product first.

PaulHoule · Accepted Answer

I worked at a place that had about 20 employees and I think had about $10 M in funding that had been in "Stealth Mode" for a few years and found that rumors had been circulating about it up and down the west coast. People had no idea about what they did but they were very interested in finding out.I'd also say that Figma is a high complexity product that would take a lot of time to get right. It's not impossible a small team could beat the odds, but it's not something that a hacker can knock out in six months with that level of refinement.

ezekg · Answer

The first thing that comes to mind are games.